Hi ho, hi ho.. it's off to walk we go

[dragon wench]

Since we have recently moved, and I like walking to places, I have just investigated how long it takes to walk to the closest grocery store (25 minutes), and a nearby park (15 minutes).
It is not an unpleasant walk, very green, so I'm entirely happy.

But, it leads me to wonder... More and more I have come to realise that masochists like me tend to be somewhat in the minority and that most people are more likely to gravitate to cars and public transport.

So, my question is: How much do you rely on walking, and what do you consider to be "within walking distance."

I tend to view anything up to 45 minutes or so as "within easy walking distance."
Though, admittedly, I need to like the area I'm walking through, otherwise I will find another means of travel.
Plus, I live in a pretty temperate area, we don't get extremes in climate, which helps as well

[giles337]

Well, I walk the 7-8 miles or so into town sometimes, which take about an hour and half, two hours. Apart from that, I guess the same is true for me. Anywhere within a half hour to an hours walking is easily achievable for me.

[Dottie]

Stockholm is a small city, so the question of what is within walking distance does rarely come up. If it does I think it very much depend on company, mood, enviroment and perhaps most important: Time. Walking everywhere is a big time waster unfortunatly.

[arno_v]

Only real walks I make are in town, that's about 10 minutes max. Most of my traveling I do on my bike, everything within an hour is reasonable. So not much walking for me, but on the other hand cycling is good for your health too and better for the enviroment then taking a car or something like that.

[dragon wench]

Originally Posted by arno_v

Most of my traveling I do on my bike, everything within an hour is reasonable. So not much walking for me, but on the other hand cycling is good for your health too and better for the enviroment then taking a car or something like that.

I bike a lot too actually, and IMO it is just as good as walking, as well as faster. I often prefer to walk though, only because I have a pretty good bike, and I get worried about leaving it locked up outside. So usually, if I take my bike out, it is specifically for a bike ride rather than as a means of transport.
Pretty sad... when you think about it..

[dragon wench]

Originally Posted by Dottie

Walking everywhere is a big time waster unfortunatly.

I think it can be. Although, it is not so much a time waster as the perception of being so IMO. What I mean is, we have gotten so used to travelling in vehicles, that we tend to measure things in the time it takes to drive rather than walk or bike somewhere. And everything in life tends to be geared around this.
It reminds me a bit of when I was writing papers regularly. Once it was assumed that most students had their own computers, the time allowed for assignments became based on how long it takes to write and edit on a word processor, as opposed to a typewriter.

[moltovir]

I consider +- 30 minutes of walking to be in walking distance. If it's any longer than that, I take the bike. But I live right in the centre of town, almost all the shops and stores are within 2 minutes of walking

Some weeks ago I saw a documentary about obese people in Texas (horrifying), and they interviewed a woman who said she drove her son to the schoolbus stop every morning. Turned out the bus stop was exactly 15 meters from her front door... I find that sick. The women herself w[insert past tense of "to weigh" here wough? weighed?] 250 kg (500 pounds?), and the son 100 kg (200 pounds). I have a cousin of the same age as that boy (the boy was 10 years old), who weighs 35kg...

[dragon wench]

@ Moltovir,
I recently read that Texas has the highest levels of obesity of anywhere in the US, so I'm not surprised to here that. Though.... still.. 15 metres?!? That is *really* bad....
Apparently Washington State (just south of me) has the highest number of health conscious people.

Texas has an extremely hot, humid summer climate. Not one I would personally enjoy walking around in very much... But... even so...

[moltovir]

The absolutely most disgusting, worst thing in that documentary... was the fact that most people were proud of being fat. One of them had a locker full of medals of "eating contests". They followed the man to one of those contests, and he ate a 30cm tall hamburger with 10 slices of meat in 20 minutes, to get his picture on the "giant hamburger wall of fame".

[dragon wench]

Originally Posted by moltovir

The absolutely most disgusting, worst thing in that documentary... was the fact that most people were proud of being fat. One of them had a locker full of medals of "eating contests". They followed the man to one of those contests, and he ate a 30cm tall hamburger with 10 slices of meat in 20 minutes, to get his picture on the "giant hamburger wall of fame".

OMG!!!! *horrified shudder*

Beyond any sort of aesthetics, to me it is the health issue....
I don't think people ought to look as though they just stepped out of Vogue (those models tend to be at the other extreme IMO)... but carrying around all of that extra weight puts so much strain on the body.

Though, I don't walk or bike because of health, really, I do it because I enjoy it. Equally, while I end up eating a fairly healthy diet, I'm no fanatic either, I just eat what I like. I think much of it is moderation, trying to avoid overprocessed foods that are loaded up with additives, and getting a reasonable amount of exercise.

[arno_v]

Well driving a car for 15 meter that is just horrible, I am against death penalty but they should make an exception for these things.

[RandomThug]

Screw walking, hurts my back. I decided recently to ride my bike to my brothers, everytime i go there. He lives about five miles away so thats a good 10 mile bike ride every day. Or at least 4 to 5 times a week.

[C Elegans]

Originally Posted by moltovir

I consider +- 30 minutes of walking to be in walking distance. If it's any longer than that, I take the bike. But I live right in the centre of town, almost all the shops and stores are within 2 minutes of walking

Same here. I prefer walking to biking though, since Stockholm is not at all as organised as Belgium or the Netherlands when it comes to bike lanes. Our last county goverment decided to put bike lanes either in the middle of the street or in the same lanes as buses and taxis, which has made biking quite dangerous. After a series of near-death experiences worse than I ever encountered as an alpine climber, I decided to quit biking and walk instead. I enjoy walking alone and think, or walking with friends and chat. Biking demands much more attention due to the traffic. I only bike if the distance takes >45-60 minutes to walk.

When I was at uni, I used to bike a lot though since I took double courses at two different unisthat were 4 km apart, and I had to rush between lectures and seminars as quickly as possible, often several times a day. The perfect intervall training program!

Turned out the bus stop was exactly 15 meters from her front door... I find that sick.

When I met my husband he lived in Florida. I remember once when we asked some people for directions, and they were completely shocked when they understood we had left the car 3 km (2.2 miles) behind and intended to walk to a place that was still 4-5 km away. The city population in China (NOT the rural population!) are exactly the same, people thought we were crazy if we walked more than 2 km, and they also frequently claimed it would take several hours to walk a distance of 3-4 km.

[Caden]

Aside from running 5 miles a day for exercising reasons. I do enjoy walking 15-20 min to my nearest grocery and a basketball court that is almost the same distance in a different direction. I could drive and save time, but what in the world would I use that time for? ...I could take a walk I guess?

[moltovir]

Ironically, it sometimes takes more than 2 hours to drive 3-4 kilometers in cities like Shanghai Same thing in London: in 1905 the average car speed in the city centre was 5 km/hour, and now in 2005 it's... 5 km/hour